Salsa Verde con Berenjena

By Christopher Totaro

My favorite part about having sage in the fridge is that a delicious brown-butter sage sauce is only just a few minutes away! And eggplant is the perfect vessel for the sauce. But for this recipe, I wanted to put a bit of a spin on things. I was surprised how well the bright and tangy flavor of the Salsa Verde nicely complemented the deep, rich, autumnal taste of the brown-butter sage sauce. Recently, I’ve been steaming eggplant before sautéing. It seems to help prevent the eggplant from absorbing too much oil.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
5 tomatillos, diced
1 red tomato
1 jalapeño
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 medium eggplant, cubed
3 tbsp butter (or vegan butter spread)
a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes
1 bunch sage

Directions:
✼ In a large sauté pan, heat coconut oil over high heat. 
✼ Add diced onions and cook until browned on the edges, stirring occasionally. 
✼ Add tomatillos and garlic; cook until moisture has been extracted from the tomatillos creating a saucy consistency. 
✼ Reduce heat to medium-high. 
✼ Add red tomato and jalapeño; stir over medium-high heat until heated through. 
✼ Add chopped cilantro and stir until combined. 
✼ Remove the Salsa Verde from the pan and set aside.

​✼ Steam the cubed eggplant until very soft.
✼ Melt butter in a small skillet over high heat. Cook, stirring, until the butter begins to brown. Watch it closely to keep it from burning. 
✼ Add the sage and red pepper flakes and stir until the sage has become brown and crispy.
​✼ To the sage-butter sauce, add the steamed eggplant and the Salsa Verde; stir until heated through